How am I doing?

I'm sorry I haven't posted here in a while. I'm keeping myself very busy with a potty training toddler and a baby! I just wanted to see how I've been doing in Manual mode, so I thought I'd post a couple of pictures for CC! All I've done to these two are crop them.

First off ... WELCOME BACK! I'm glad you're finding time despite everything to pop in and post a bit!

Second ... I'd say you're doing pretty darn good!

Here's my $0.02 worth ...

1. focus, color, and exposure all look REALLY GOOD! You nailed his eyes ... they're beautiful and crisp and have just the right amount of light in them (imho). Very nice bokeh on the background too. I think I would crop this to a portrait crop so that he is the true focus of the photo. Then it wouldn't matter that he's so centered and it will distract from his hands and feet not making it into the frame. It should draw you right to those amazing eyes.

2. my thoughts are pretty much the same on this one. I think the only thing that is needed is a tighter crop, probably in portrait mode instead of landscape. At first I thought the eyes might be a little OOF, but at second look, I think that is just b/c he has such light eye lashes and a bit more light in his eyes in this shot (which I like, btw).

You are doing really well in manual and I'm sure you will only continue to improve!

Now how could anyone see past that cute little face to CC?! He's absolutely adorable!

The color looks good to me in both pictures (although I'm not calibrated), and you've captured his expressive eyes beautifully. #2 looks ever-so-slightly softer, but not too much. I'd maybe play with the crop and off-center the photos slightly. I actually like #1 being rather centered but might shave a little background off the right side.

Thank you so much for the input everyone! I have been having a hard time with exposure lately, so I'm so happy to see that the exposure looks good! Yay! I'm loving the fact that I have a new model to practice on and get lots of pictures of. My 2 year old pretty much runs away when he sees the camera come out. At least the 4 month old can't walk away from me ...Yet...

I really hope that I can get back into posting here. I really love taking pictures, and have a crap load of them. You ladies have helped me out so much in the past couple of years! Thank you!